Berkonomics

AUGUST 3, 2023

Some businesses require very little capital and the founder can self-finance the enterprise and retain 100% of its ownership and control from ignition through liquidity event (startup through sale). Better yet, the valuation of your enterprise is often higher than if the same investment were taken from a professional investor.

Private Equity 118

Private Equity Valuation Cap Table Accredited Investor 118

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 30, 2018

I know that some founders feel uncomfortable with this as though they might somehow be sharing something so confidential that it ultimately hurts you. So a VC doesn’t want to price a deal in which the founder feels aggrieved from day one but takes your money anyway because he or she doesn’t have a choice. After all?—?we

Valuation 324

Valuation Post-Money Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Cofounder 324

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 1, 2014

Startup founders are known for their passion for their startup idea, and for their passion to kill every competitor. Competitors can become strategic investors or merger candidates. Good strategic partnerships often lead to strategic investments, or great acquisition relationships.

Non-disclosure Agreement 257

Non-disclosure Agreement Intellectual Property Startup Non-Compete 257

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 30, 2010

Evan and I met regularly over a three year period from the time he was running Flux, which he sold to Viacom ( who was his strategic investor ). This is his third company that is in this related space and he was an early investor in Adconion. He knows the ad management and ad network businesses.

Mobile 282

Mobile Management Southern California Application Development 282

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 26, 2020

Strategic investors might be willing to give you a higher or lower valuation than VCs because they have different priorities, etc. Rizwan Virk is the founder of Play Labs @ MIT and author of “ Startup Myths and Models: What You Won’t Learn in Business School “, “ Zen Entrepreneurship “, and “ The Simulation Hypothesis “.

Finance 205

Finance Silicon Valley Valuation Startup 205

Rob Go

DECEMBER 14, 2016

This is something that isn’t that obvious to founders, so I thought I’d write a quick post. As a founder, this is exciting, but it’s a big red flag. When a VC invests in a startup, the two parties usually sign a term sheet that lays out the major terms of the investment round.

Term Sheet 28

Term Sheet Technical Review Due Diligence Private Equity 28

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 16, 2012

It has always surprised me that founders were so quick to fight over how many board members there were and so quick to agree to have as many board observers as people wanted. Some “strategic investors” have rules that they can’t sit on board seats. Just know that two partners talking = 2x the board influence.

Strategic Investors 289

Strategic Investors Early Stage Partner Naming 289

Hunter Walker

MAY 23, 2018

30 minute call with ONE of the following founder/CEOs to get advice on whatever you want – company building, bootstrapping, raising venture capital, building a brand. These founders have raised hundreds of millions of dollars from top VCs, celebs and strategic investors – maybe their advice helps YOU land the big deal.

Venture Capital 51

Venture Capital Strategic Investors Bootstrapping Founder 51

David Teten

SEPTEMBER 6, 2015

Previously she was Co-Founder and CEO of SNAZZ, a cloud-based event management platform. What are some of the unique benefits and constraints from the point of view of a founder? . A corporate investor can provide diversity on the Board as someone who thinks differently from independent VCs. Can the founders communicate well?

Venture Capital 60

Venture Capital Balance Sheet Technical Review Portfolio 60

Hunter Walker

APRIL 4, 2014

strategic investors (including corporates). traditional institutional LPs such as fund of funds, endowments, foundations, sovereign wealth funds ( our investors ). I know the founders we’re seeing are strong enough that a great fund could be constructed on top of the opportunities presented, so that feels great.

San Francisco 100

San Francisco Private Equity LP Syndicate 100

Berkonomics

OCTOBER 22, 2015

It’s human nature for investors to want to buy into a fast growing future, proven by some event in the immediate past. Raising too much too early dilutes the founder interest to unacceptable levels. They will be immune to the disinterest shown by financial investors. That’s the rub.

Dilution 48

Dilution Strategic Investors Early Stage Cost 48

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2010

Investors: Allen Morgan of Mayfield Fund, ff Asset Management, Bobby Yazdani, Nova Spivack of Lucid Ventures, Zelkova Ventures, Paige Craig, Tom McInerney, Michael Yavonditte of Quigo Technologies, Ofer Ronan. Segment Four, “VC Discussion – How Should Entrepreneurs Think about ‘Strategic’ Investors?”. Read more: TechCrunch.

IPO 236

IPO .Net Venture Capital Strategic Investors 236

This is going to be BIG.

DECEMBER 21, 2017

Tech VC is a pretty mature marketplace--the players are known, the process is established, and so while relationship building might take time, usually you can estimate how long a deal will take with some accuracy (besides, of course, that it takes longer than the founder wants). 3) Find a flexible lead.

Cap Table 90

Cap Table Cofounder Valuation .Net 90

Version One Ventures

MAY 24, 2016

Over the past month, I’ve spent a lot of time in NYC, Toronto, and Ottawa for board meetings, conferences, meetings with our founders, re-connecting with co-investors, and meeting new entrepreneurs. The Bay Area is home to smart and strategic investors that contribute far more than just dollars. Great value-add capital.

Silicon Valley 113

Silicon Valley San Francisco Startup DC 113

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 10, 2010

Banks are particularly helpful with raising money from “strategic&# investors, which often means corporate investors such as Intuit, SAP, AMD, Salesforce.com and the like. million from Trinity Ventures, Founder Collective, Highline Ventures, NextNew Ventures. total funding $1.7 million) TechCrunch. My-Wardrobe.

IPO 242

IPO Venture Capital Private Placement Cofounder 242

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 24, 2016

The mistake most founders make is sending out last-minute board packs. Investors sit on many boards and have many other job tasks so often if you get a deck the day before and you’re in back-to-back meetings and a dinner you’re only likely to have a cursory look at the materials prior to meeting. Here’s the reality.

Metrics 196

Metrics Strategic Investors Later Stage Management 196

Berkonomics

JUNE 8, 2017

Some businesses require very little capital and the founder can self-finance the enterprise and retain 100% of its ownership and control from ignition through liquidity event (startup through sale). Better yet, the valuation of your enterprise is often higher than if the same investment were taken from a professional investor.

Private Equity 106

Private Equity Valuation Cap Table Accredited Investor 106

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 18, 2010

Are “strategic investors&# (e.g. industry investors rather than VCs) a good idea for entrepreneurs. Founded in April/May 2010 by Diego Berdakin (Ex-Slingshot Labs) and Josh Berman (Ex-Slingshot Labs, MySpace Co-founder) in Santa Monica, CA. Paul discussed his perspective having been at SAP Ventures.

Venture Capital 225

Venture Capital Non-Compete Vertical Europe 225

VC Cafe

JANUARY 6, 2011

Yosi Glick, Jinni’s CEO and Co-founder said: “Completing the Series B funding round allows us to focus on what we do best: Developing an innovative product that is designed to fundamentally improve the entertainment experience. The round was led by Belgacom and an undisclosed connected-TV manufacturer.

Video 79

Video Semantic Strategic Investors Cofounder 79

Hunter Walker

JUNE 7, 2016

This week I’ll be running a series of Five Question interviews with small businesses which were facilitated by BondStreet , a SMB lending platform (we’re investors). These people are true founders and entrepreneurs just like any venture backed company. BS: As co-founders, Suzanne and I are equal business partners 50/50.

Caching 70

Caching DC Social Media Finance 70

Austin Startup

SEPTEMBER 20, 2019

Since the beginning, the week’s programming has been lovingly organized by Jacqueline Hughes , Events Manager at Kauffman Fellows, Joshua Baer , Founder and CEO of Capital Factory, and the Capital Factory Dream Team.

Austin 48

Austin Startup Texas Community 48

Growthink Blog

OCTOBER 7, 2011

My favorite answer from the interview is Harrison's dead-on response to the question, "What are the biggest mistakes that company founders make?" One of Harrison's companies received early funding from a strategic investor (a large corporation). Even if you're a great entrepreneur (e.g., Find multiple forms of funding early.

Business Plan 83

Business Plan Jordan Strategic Investors IPO 83

Hunter Walker

JUNE 7, 2016

This week I’ll be running a series of Five Question interviews with small businesses which were facilitated by BondStreet , a SMB lending platform (we’re investors). These people are true founders and entrepreneurs just like any venture backed company. BS: As co-founders, Suzanne and I are equal business partners 50/50.

Caching 48

Caching DC Social Media Finance 48

VC Adventure

AUGUST 10, 2010

To be clear, while there is a small group of us that are Trada founders, the idea of Trada is completely Niel’s. It’s hard to imagine a more strategic investor in a search business than Google and we’re extremely happy to have Rich Minor and the Google Ventures team on board.

Syndicate 74

Syndicate Syndication Due Diligence SEM 74

Berkonomics

JANUARY 20, 2010

Some businesses require very little capital and the founder is able to self-finance the enterprise and retain 100% of its ownership and control from ignition through liquidity event (startup through sale). Better yet, the valuation of your enterprise is often higher than if the same investment were taken from a professional investor.

Private Equity 69

Private Equity Valuation Cap Table Accredited Investor 69

www.mattbartus.com

DECEMBER 9, 2012

Perspectives on issues affecting founders, startups and investors from a veteran startup lawyer in Silicon Valley. If you are a company that is fundraising, keep in mind that there are a few different levers you can pull to change the amount of dilution that the founders will experience. How to pump up your VC valuation.

Warrant 40

Warrant Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Term Sheet 40

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 1, 2011

I have these 3 ‘problem children’ that are having some difficulties (founder quit, product has no uptake, Facebook just copied them) but at least I have meaningful stakes. “We want some financial investors and some strategic investors so we have to split it up.&# Strategic investors are oxymorons.

Strategic Investors 312

Strategic Investors Los Angeles Cap Table Startup 312